Preface
The purpose of this volume is to trace the history of the medieval Latin hymn from the point of view of usage. It must be evident to any student of a subject which is spread over a thousand years of human experience in the widening environment of an entire continent that a guiding thread is needed to show the way. One must not, at the same time, ignore the fact that a monumental religious literature in the poetic field is involved. But the hymn is functional, having its greatest significance as a lyric when employed in an act of worship. Latin hymnology, moreover, is an aspect of ecclesiastical studies following the history of the Church through the classical and medieval ages into modern times.

A wider cultural background than the immediate interest of theology and religion is reflected in the hymns of any age. Here often lie secrets of interpretation which make possible an appreciation of contemporary thought.

As the study of the medieval hymn is followed from the standpoint of life and usage, the antiquarian and the literary critic, who cannot fully satisfy the quest of the student for reality, must give place to the medieval worshiper himself who has revealed in its entirety each successive phase of a hymnological history not yet ended.

For information about the Christian hymn as it existed prior to the medieval era, the author’s Christian Hymns of the First Three Centuries, Paper IX, a publication of The Hymn Society of America, may be consulted. This account of primitive Christian hymnody, although pre-medieval, serves as an introduction to the subject matter of the present volume.

The pages which follow are intended for the general reader rather than the specialist in medieval culture or in the classical languages. Biographies of hymn writers have not been attempted since the literature of this subject is already extensive. Documentation has been reduced to a minimum. A bibliography has been provided for any who are interested in specialized fields.
x

It is hoped that this brief study will have a modest part in opening up to the general reader a field which has never been fully explored in any language, especially English. An inclusive treatment is not offered here but one which represents the fruits of a generation of research.

My grateful thanks are due to my friends and co-workers in the fields of classical studies, hymnology and medieval history who have assisted me in countless ways, particularly to Dr. Adelaide D. Simpson and Dr. Carl Selmer, both of Hunter College of the City of New York, who have read the entire manuscript and offered invaluable criticisms and suggestions. Among the many librarians who have assisted me in varied centers of study, I am most indebted to the staff of the Library of union Theological Seminary of New York, under Dr. William Walker Rockwell and later under Dr. Lucy Markley. Finally, I wish to acknowledge my obligation to those authors and publishers who have granted permission to use certain translations of Latin hymns which appear in this volume.
CHAPTER ONE
Early Middle Ages: Latin Hymns of the Fourth Century
I. The Early Hymn Writers

The first mention of Christian Latin hymns by a known author occurs in the writings of St. Jerome who states that Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers (c. 310-366), a noted author of commentaries and theological works, wrote a Liber Hymnorum.[1] This collection has never been recovered in its entirety. Hilary’s priority as a hymn writer is attested by Isidore of Seville (d. 636) who says:

    Hilary, however, Bishop of Poitiers in Gaul, a man of unusual eloquence, was the first prominent hymn writer.[2]

More important than his prior claim is the motive which actuated him, the defense of the Trinitarian doctrine, to which he was aroused by his controversy with the Arians. A period of four years as an exile in Phrygia for which his theological opponents were responsible, made him familiar with the use of hymns in the oriental church to promote the Arian heresy. Hilary wrested a sword, so to speak, from his adversaries and carried to the west the hymn, now a weapon of the orthodox. His authentic extant hymns, three in number, must have been a part of the Liber Hymnorum. Ante saecula qui manens, “O Thou who dost exist before time,” is a hymn of seventy verses in honor of the Trinity; Fefellit saevam verbum factum te, caro, “The Incarnate Word hath deceived thee (Death)” is an Easter hymn; and Adae carnis gloriosae, “In the person of the Heavenly Adam” is a hymn on the theme of the temptation of Jesus.[3] They are ponderous in style and expression and perhaps too lengthy for congregational use since they were destined to be superseded.
2

In addition to these the hymn Hymnum dicat turba fratrum, “Let your hymn be sung, ye faithful,” has been most persistently associated with Hilary’s name. The earliest text occurs in a seventh century manuscript. It is a metrical version of the life of Jesus in seventy-four lines, written in the same meter as that of Adae carnis gloriosae.[4]

Pope Damasus, a Spaniard by birth (c. 304-384), is believed to have written hymns in addition to the Epigrams on the martyrs which constitute his authentic poetry. It would seem probable that his activities in identifying and marking the sites associated with the Roman martyrs might have been supplemented by the production of hymns in their honor. Two hymns bearing his name are extant, one in praise of St. Andrew the Apostle and one for St. Agatha. Upon internal evidence the ascription is dubious for they bear the mark of authorship too late to be considered among the poems of this famous Pope.

As a matter of fact, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (340-397), remains the uncontested originator of the medieval Latin hymn as it becomes familiar to us in a uniform series of metrical stanzas adapted to congregational use. Like Hilary, Ambrose was born in Gaul.[5] He was the son of Ambrose, Prefect of the Gauls, and like his father he attained official appointment under the Roman government as Consular of Liguria and Aemilia, with Milan as place of residence. Theological controversy between the Arians and the orthodox was raging at Milan, the Bishop himself, Auxentius, having adopted the Arian position. Ambrose at this time was a catechumen but at the death of Auxentius was obliged to preserve order when the election of his successor took place. At that very moment the popular mandate created Ambrose Bishop of Milan at the age of thirty-four years. The period immediately following his election found him constantly battling for orthodoxy in a contest which passed beyond the limits of theological debate to the actual siege of orthodox churches by the Arian forces.

Ambrose was acquainted with the Syrian practice of hymn singing, and like Hilary, he recognized the effective use of the hymn by the proponents of the Arian heresy. It was not long before the congregations in the basilica at Milan were chanting antiphonally the praises of the Trinity in a similar form. Ambrose himself recorded his achievement, his biographer 3 Paulinus mentions the event and Augustine in his Confessions describes the congregational singing which he himself had heard.

    We, though as yet unmelted by the heat of Thy Spirit, were nevertheless excited by the alarm and tumult of the city. Then it was first instituted that according to the custom of the eastern regions, hymns and psalms should be sung, lest the people should faint through the fatigue of sorrow.[6]

Ambrose wrote hymns appropriate for morning and evening worship, four of which now extant, can be proved to be of his authorship, Aeterne rerum conditor, “Maker of all, eternal King,” Deus creator omnium, “Creator of the earth and sky,” Iam surgit hora tertia, “Now the third hour draws nigh,” and Veni redemptor gentium, “Come Redeemer of the earth.”[7] Many others in keeping with his style and inspiration have been preserved and subjected to critical study with the result that eighteen hymns on varied themes are generally conceded to be Ambrosian. Had Ambrose never conferred upon the church his gift of hymnody he would still remain one of the great Latin Fathers of the fourth century, in his functions as statesman, organizer and scholar. His contribution to ecclesiastical poetry and music have made him influential century after century. In this role he has spoken directly to multitudes of Christians throughout the world, many of whom have been unacquainted with his name or unaware that they were following the Ambrosian tradition of congregational song. (See Illustrative Hymns, I. Splendor paternae gloriae, “O Splendor of God’s glory bright.”)

Spain shares the honors with Gaul as the birthplace of the earliest hymn writers, claiming first Damasus and then Prudentius, (348-413?), a lawyer, judge and poet of his era. Little is known of his life aside from his literary work which includes two collections of hymns, the Cathemerinon, a series for the hours of the day and the ecclesiastical seasons and the Peristephanon, a series of much longer poems in praise of the great martyrs of the early church. In his effort to learn more of the circumstances attending their martyrdom, Prudentius went to Rome to visit the scenes made sacred by their death and sufferings. Neither of these collections was written for liturgical use but for devotional reading. Both were destined to be appropriated by compilers of hymnaries, especially in Spain. 4 Hymns from the Cathemerinon, either in their original form or in centos, spread throughout the Christian church while the martyr hymns were also drawn upon but to a lesser extent. The hymns selected for festival use are perhaps most familiar today, for example, for Advent, Corde natus ex parentis ante mundi exordium, of which the translation “Of the Father’s love begotten,” suggests the original meter. The Epiphany hymn, O sola magnarum urbium, “Earth hath many a noble city,” is also well known.[8]

Considered merely as Latin poetry, the hymns of Hilary, Ambrose and Prudentius are transitional in their literary character. They belong neither to the poetry of the Silver Age of Latin literature nor do they represent the medieval literary tradition. Of the metrical aspect something will be said presently. By some the Ambrosian hymn is regarded as a daring innovation and the model from which vernacular European verse was later to develop. In that case, it constitutes a class by itself. For evidence of the continuity of Latin poetry from the classical to the medieval age we must turn to the Carmina of Venantius Fortunatus.

Fortunatus (c. 530-600) was born near Treviso and lived as a youth in northern Italy, studying at Ravenna. The greater part of his life, however, was spent in Gaul which he visited first as a pilgrim to the shrine of St. Martin at Tours, who, he believed, had been instrumental in restoring his eyesight. At Poitiers he met Queen Rhadegunda, wife of Clothair, King of Neustria. She had founded a convent at Poitiers and there lived in retirement. This was his introduction to a life of travel and of intercourse with the great. He was acquainted with bishops, noblemen and kings whose praises he sang in many graceful tributes, occasional poems and epitaphs. Through the influence of Rhadegunda, his lifelong patron and friend, he was ordained, and after her death he became Bishop of Poitiers, 597, where he lived until his death. As a churchman he was an admirer and biographer of the saints of Gaul, preeminently St. Martin whose life and miracles he recounted in poetic form.

Fortunatus seems to have carried with him from the Italian scenes associated with the poetry of Virgil—an inspiration which was never entirely lost. His poems suggest a familiarity with the literary background of classical verse. During his mature life he lived in the environment of sixth century Gallic society which was already assuming its medieval 5 Frankish outlines. Natural beauty and human companionship were alike important to him. He was acquainted with men and women of every degree from the monarch to the slave.

Although the spirit of religious devotion and of orthodox belief is evident in many of the hundreds of lyrics which he composed, four only may be classed as hymns. Three of these are concerned with the theme of the Holy Cross, Pange lingua, gloriosi proelium certaminis, “Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle,” Vexilla regis prodeunt, “The banners of the king advance,” and Crux benedicta nitet, “Radiant is the blessed cross.” The fourth, Tempora florigero rutilant distincta sereno, “Season of luminous days, marked bright with the birth of the flowers,” is a Resurrection hymn.[9] It is impossible to indicate here the extraordinary influence which this group of hymns has exerted in the evolution of Christian hymnody, continuing in Gaul the tradition, as it were, which Hilary first established. The circumstances of their origin and their lasting values will be considered in connection with processional hymns in Chapter VI.

(See Illustrative Hymns, II. Vexilla regis prodeunt, “The banners of the king advance.”)
II. Metrical Forms

The problem of metrical forms and the prosody of the earliest Latin hymns, in general, is a phase of the same problem affecting Latin poetry as a whole. The subject is both complicated and obscure, entangled with that of Latin rhetorical prose style, the transition from the quantitative accent of ancient classical poetry to the stress accent of medieval and modern verse and with the origin of rhyme. It is a problem for specialists among whom opinions are now divergent. Toward a practical understanding of the metrical values of the hymns of Hilary, Prudentius, Ambrose and Fortunatus, the pragmatic test of what is singable may be applied. The ancient balanced rhythms of Semitic poetry as illustrated in the Hebrew psalms had been sung for generations. The metrical lyrics of ancient Greece were sung to an instrumental accompaniment as were the Latin lyrics of the Golden Age of Rome. These highly polished classical forms were for the elite. Of popular poetry which was sung in the period immediately 6 preceding the appearance of the Latin hymn, very little is known. The early writers were experimenters. Hilary used classical meters with alterations, of which the trochaic tetrameter catalectic proved most acceptable.[10] It is illustrated in Adae carnis gloriosae and also in hymns by Prudentius and Fortunatus. Prudentius used a variety of meters in addition to the trochaic which proved adaptable in actual liturgical practice but by that time stress accent was beginning to obscure the original quantitative values. Ambrose used the unrhymed iambic dimeter, a simple and singable form which has been in vogue ever since, at first unrhymed after the original models and later rhymed. The popular trochaic meter familiarized by Hilary, Prudentius and Fortunatus, when transformed by stress accent and rhyme, is easily recognized both in Latin and the vernaculars. Fortunatus popularized the elegiac meter in hymns for a thousand years by demonstrating its use in Tempora florigero. Prior to the ninth century revival of hymnody, the Ambrosian hymn, considered as a metrical model, in comparison with all other existing models, dominates the field equally with its prestige as an expression of Christian theology and devotion.
III. Hymns in Worship

It is evident that the fourth century was one of innovation in the custom of congregational singing as the Ambrosian hymn was more widely diffused. Our knowledge of what actually took place is very incomplete, based first upon the writing of Ambrose and his contemporaries and later upon the hints derived from monastic usage. That morning and evening services of prayer and praise were common is well known. That the singing of the new fourth century hymns was an integral part of such services is largely assumed. Prudentius wrote hymns for the evening ceremony of the lucernare or lighting of the candles, a Christian practice adopted from the Greek church, to which many references are found. The fact that the hymns of Prudentius were in existence long before they appeared in the records of formal worship points to early Christian usage, however dimly perceived.

Concerning music we learn from the most recent researches that “nothing definite is known of the melodies that were actually applied to 7 the hymns of St. Ambrose.”[11] The traditional liturgical music of Milan is known as the Ambrosian Chant. It cannot be traced to Ambrose himself but is supposed to have existed in a simpler form than that which appears in available manuscripts beginning with the twelfth century. At least it may be said to have existed prior to the Roman Chant and perhaps have influenced the latter. With a frank acknowledgement of ignorance as to the antiphonal melodies which thrilled St. Augustine at Milan, the possibility must be admitted that they reflected to some extent the formal music of the synagogue or the music of the Greeks or the elements of contemporary folk music because these were the musical materials of which the Christians had experience. All three may have been represented, but for a hymn of the Ambrosian type, the chant as evolved in rendering the Gospels or the Psalms may have given place to a form of song more characteristic of the lyric.
IV. Themes

The tradition of Christian hymnology which upholds a way of life is fundamental in Ambrosian and contemporary hymns. The “way” is the first term by which Christianity was designated in the Scriptures. Thus to the Scriptures the hymn writers turned for the living characterization of their themes. The call to a virtuous life is sounded in Splendor paternae gloriae quoted above. Similarly throughout these hymns, the high ideal of faith, purity, hope, patience, humility and love and the ethical teachings derived from the words of Jesus and from the early exemplars of the Christian religion are clearly expressed and enjoined. Not alone for contemporaries in a period of crisis and controversy were these hymns effective. They have continued to speak the same words in the same spirit of joy and devotion derived from contact with the earlier springs of faith to every succeeding century.

The writings of men familiar with Roman civilization and trained in classical culture would naturally be presumed to retain the flavor of a non-Christian literature. Christianity had already appropriated from the pagan philosophers those teachings which were congenial to its own. Ambrose reveals both in his poetic and prose writings his acquaintance with classical 8 thought and literary models. Prudentius mingles the classical and the Christian. Fortunatus was inspired by classical poetry to a Christian expression of beauty in form and content. But in every case, these characteristics are marginal. The core of their hymns is the scriptural narrative. Not only is the subject matter faithfully reproduced but the actual text is sometimes embedded in the verse. The result is a rare objectivity and a lack of embellishment especially in the works of Ambrose which became the preferred standard for later writers.[12]

The life of Jesus is a favorite theme particularly in those episodes which were described and expanded in hymns for the Nativity, Epiphany, Passion, Easter and Pentecost. From the episode of the Nativity the praise of the Virgin was developed. The doctrine of the Trinity was everywhere upheld in hymns, even as its defense had been influential in their creation.

The group of hymns which praise the early Christian leaders, either directly or by incidental mention, form a nucleus for the impressive medieval hymnology of the saints. The Apostles have first place both in chronology and importance. Prudentius praised the Roman martyrs and Ambrose those of Rome and Milan as well. Both honored Laurence the Deacon and Agnes the Virgin. To the praise of the whole group “the noble army of martyrs,” the hymn Aeterna Christi munera, “The eternal gifts of Christ the King,” was written, unrivalled as a martyr hymn in any period of Latin hymnology.

(See Illustrative Hymns, III. Aeterna Christi munera, “The eternal gifts of Christ the King.”)
CHAPTER TWO
Early Middle Ages: The Old Hymnal
I. The Hymn Cycles

We owe the preservation of the earliest Latin hymns to monastic practice. When the founders of monasticism in the west, Caesarius and Aurelian who were famous bishops of Arles (6th C.), and Benedict (d. 543), founder of the Benedictine Order, organized the regulations and routine for the communities under their charge, they incorporated Latin hymns already existing into the daily worship of the monastery.[1] These were sung at the services of the canonical hours and were known as hour hymns or office hymns.

A continuity can be traced, although faintly, from primitive Christian observances. Beginning with the vigil of Saturday night in preparation for the following Sunday, the first three centuries of Christian history developed public services for prayer at candlelight, night time, and dawn. By the fourth century, the tide of devotional practice had set in, bringing with it daily worship in the church at the third, sixth and ninth hours. At the end of the fourth and during the fifth century the cycle was completed with new offices at sunrise and nightfall. The full series, therefore, included the nocturnal cursus; vespers, compline, matins (nocturns and lauds), and the diurnal cursus; prime, terce, sext and nones.[2] An opportunity was afforded to unify the services and at the same time to make use of the symbolic number seven by reference to Psalm 119: 164 (Ps. 118, Vulgate), “Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous ordinances.” From the simple assemblies of early Christianity, therefore, and the daily offices of prayer, a fully elaborated cycle of hymns in time developed, appropriate to the symbolism of the seven hours and to the needs of the annual feasts. Constantly increasing in number and variety, 10 these cycles were preserved in psalters together with the psalms or in a hymnary by themselves. In fact, the word hymn came to mean specifically an office hymn later to be associated with the breviary, and the word hymnal, a cycle or collection of office hymns.

At first the cycles were brief. Five extant manuscripts reveal the sixth century group of hymns of which the best representative, the so-called Psalter of the Queen from the famous collection of Queen Christine of Sweden, probably dates from the time of Charles Martel (d. 741).[3] This group of hymns is usually referred to as the Old Hymnal, the initial version of which numbers thirty-four hymns but at the close of the sixth century had increased to perhaps sixty hymns in actual use.[4] The thirty-four original hymns of the Old Hymnal are listed in the Appendix to this chapter where the appropriate location of each is indicated, whether for daily or seasonal worship.

Due to the influence of Benedict who had enjoined the use of the Ambrosian hymn, the authentic verse of Ambrose was preserved and extensively imitated among the regular clergy. What had become of the hymn in secular worship?

The old prejudice against non-scriptural hymns and in favor of the Psalms had never died out. By a canon of the Council of Laodicea (c. 364), psalmi idiotici or “private hymns” were forbidden, a mandate which was valid during the lifetime of Ambrose who, nevertheless, ignored a restriction intended to safeguard orthodoxy but hardly applicable in his case. In the sixth century the secular clergy of Spain were forbidden to use hymns by the Council of Braga, 563.[5] The paradox of encouraging non-scriptural hymns in the monastery and forbidding their use in the church at large has been explained by reference to the contemporary appearance of early forms of vernacular speech in western Europe. Latin, the language of the church, its liturgy and its clergy, was now threatened by a possible inroad of the vernacular.[6] Hymn writing was regarded, perhaps, as a prerogative of the clergy to be kept within bounds. To throw open to the church everywhere these privileges might be dangerous alike for theology and worship. Learning in the Latin tongue tended to be concentrated in the monastery, for other centers of scholarship were few and far between; hymnology became largely a function of the monastic group.
11

It should be remembered that these centuries embraced a period of the greatest political, economic and social confusion in western Europe during which we know relatively little about Christian worship in widespread congregations except for the rite of the mass. Yet in the sixth century the opposite tendency toward greater freedom in writing and singing hymns was apparent. The Council of Tours, 567, permitted the secular clergy to use Ambrosian and other hymns.[7] If viewed in this light, the religious verse of Fortunatus takes on a new significance, illustrative of the freedom which the Church in Gaul, always highly individual, now experienced in the realm of hymnology.

Gaul, then, was the scene of a conflict in which the Latin hymn was contending, and that successfully, for its very life. On the monastic side, anonymous clerics, using the Ambrosian model, gradually provided the full complement of hymns for the annual festivals in harmony with the liturgical year which began to emerge and resemble somewhat its present form. Wherever the Benedictine Order penetrated into the territories of western Europe, the use of hymns likewise increased. Their diffusion must be regarded as comparable with that of an organization which within two hundred years of the death of its founder boasted hundreds of monasteries and convents throughout western Christendom, augmented by Irish and other foundations which had adopted the Benedictine Rule. Missionary zeal had played a significant role in this expansion. Fulda, for instance, a community with 400 monks and many missionaries at its disposal, was able under Willibald to extend its influence through numerous subordinate monasteries and convents. Royal favor, already enjoyed by St. Gall and now conferred upon new establishments, rivalled that of popes and synods, which at the time of Pippin’s coronation in 750 or 752, combined to insure the success of the Benedictine program.[8]

On the side of secular worship, the hymnal used by Benedict and his successors gradually gained a foothold in the church through diocesan centers which adopted the monastic cycles. Or perhaps it may be said, with the reservation that we are in the realm of theory and not of fact, that the ancient hymns written prior to the sixth century had been circulated and continued to be circulated in the west in a way not at present understood, in connection with the Gallican or ancient liturgy of Gaul. If so, the Old 12 Hymnal is the Gallican hymnal which Benedict appropriated and his followers maintained to its acknowledged prestige by the year 750.

An episode of significance for hymnology during the period under consideration in this chapter is the activity of Gregory the Great who occupied the papal throne from 590 to 604. A member of the Benedictine Order, he is noted for his enthusiastic support of its missionary program and for his interest in ecclesiastical music and poetry. His role in the extension of the Roman Rite and of the Benedictine Order to Britain is familiar to all.[9] His authority in the western church is a matter not of controversy but of fact. That he was deeply interested both in hymn writing and singing may be safely assumed for there are too many reports of his activity to be ignored. His actual role in the development of the chant which bears his name and the authorship of eight to eleven hymns attributed to him, have not been determined. For Gregory’s contribution to the ritual music of the church the reader is referred to the discussion of this subject by specialists in the field of liturgical music. For his contribution to the hymn cycles, modern hymnologists have judged even the eight hymns singled out as Gregorian by Benedictine editors, to be doubtful although the nocturn and vesper hymns may be authentic.[10] Aside from critical research the fact remains that all these hymns appear in the cycles of the day and several have been in liturgical use to the present time. They are representative of the hymnology of the transition between the Old Hymnal and the later cycles whose hidden origins Gregory may have influenced.

(See Illustrative Hymns, IV. Nocte surgentes vigilemus omnes, “Father we praise Thee, now the night is over.”)
II. Mozarabic Contributions

The list of hymns in the Old Hymnal (See Appendix) reveals at a glance the presence of nine Mozarabic hymns. Mozarabic is a term applied to the Christian inhabitants of Spain under Moslem rule and also to the rites of the Christian Church prevailing throughout the Visigothic and Moslem periods. It is the former or Visigothic period extending from the foundation of the Kingdom by Euric, 466, to the entry of the Moslems 13 in 711, which claims our attention here. Connections between Spain and Gaul at this time were very close for the Visigoths ruled a large part of what is now southern France from the Atlantic to the Maritime Alps. The great churchmen of Spain, especially Isidore, Archbishop of Seville (d. 636), performed the same service for Christian hymns in Spain which the monastic leaders performed in Gaul. In his Etymologiae and his De officiis ecclesiasticis, Isidore considers the subject of music and liturgy. His Regula monachorum, built partly on older rules observed in Spain, is an evidence of his interest in monastic reform. As presiding bishop of the IV Council of Toledo, 633, he was at the height of his reputation.[11] Braulio, Bishop of Saragossa, (631-651), his pupil and literary executor, bears witness to his fame.[12] He himself maintained the liturgical tradition which was continued with great success by Eugenius II, Primate of Toledo, (646-657), Ildefonsus who held the same rank, (659-667), and others. As the result of the literary and liturgical movement initiated by these leaders, supported by the councils and schools, the Mozarabic hymnology was rapidly developed. The canons of the IV Council of Toledo, for which Isidore may have been personally responsible, require uniformity of the rites and offices throughout Spain and Gaul. The thirteenth canon upholds the validity and appropriateness of hymns by Christian authors against those who would restrict the hymnody of the Church to the Psalms of the Old Testament. After a discussion of the old prohibitions and the reasons for approving the new compositions, Canon 13 reads:

    “As with prayers, so also with hymns written for the praise of God, let no one of you disapprove of them but publish them abroad both in Gaul and Spain. Let those be punished with excommunication who have ventured to repudiate hymns.”[13]

Building upon the work of Ambrose, Sedulius and notably Prudentius, their own countryman; adapting ancient traditions of congregational worship and monastic usage, the liturgists of the seventh century must have collated for the use of the clergy approximately sixty-five hymns from sources originating prior to their own day. These ancient hymns form the nucleus of the Mozarabic Hymnal, the earliest manuscript of which dates from the tenth century. They reveal interrelations between the Spanish and Gallican churches and they indicate a continuity of hymn singing from 14 primitive congregational usage like the Ambrosian to the seventh century revival and extension of non-scriptural hymns.[14]

(See Illustrative Hymns, V. Alleluia piis edite laudibus, “Sing alleluia forth in duteous praise.”)
III. Celtic Hymns

The Celtic inhabitants of the British Isles from the period of the introduction of Christianity maintained individual features of liturgy and organization, especially in their monastic groups. The contemporary Saxon Church of the seventh century, however, had been drawn into the Roman sphere of influence by Gregory the Great who was also in touch with Celtic leadership. The ancient record of the interchange of hymns written respectively by St. Columba of Iona and by Gregory preserves more than a report incapable of proof.[15] It points to reciprocal interest in the evolving hymnology of the sixth and seventh centuries in Celtic and continental regions.

The so-called Bangor Antiphonary of the seventh century is the earliest manuscript containing hymns, twelve in number.[16] Its contents are otherwise miscellaneous, including a list of the abbots of Bangor. Hilary’s supposed hymn from this collection, Hymnum dicat turba fratrum, has already been cited. An ancient communion hymn, Sancti venite Christi corpus sumite, “Draw nigh and take the body of the Lord,” is included and Mediae noctis tempus est, “It is the midnight hour,” an office hymn common to the hymnals of Spain and Gaul. Among other important sources is the Irish Liber hymnorum, preserved in an eleventh century manuscript of Dublin which contains Columba’s hymn, Altus prosator, “Ancient of days,” honoring God the creator, and the Lorica or Breastplate Hymn of St. Gildas (6th C.), Suffragare trinitatis unitas, unitatis miserere trinitas, “Grant me thy favor, Three in One, have mercy on me, One in Three.”[17]

On the whole Celtic hymns exhibit great variety in subject matter and purpose with many departures from the type of hymn cycle in use on the continent. Indeed, the group of from fifteen to twenty hymns produced in the centuries under consideration are highly distinctive. The Ambrosian 15 tradition is not apparent. Non-Ambrosian meters are illustrated in all three hymns cited above while alliteration, the abcd form, repetition of initial words and other metrical devices are found throughout the collection. There are hymns for the offices and communion, metrical prayers and a group of hymns for saints, some bearing witness to local cults. Poetic individuality marks them all.[18] Contemporaneous with the flowering of Celtic hymnology, the seventh century saw the beginning of the cultural invasion of the continent by Celtic scholars, teachers and missionaries whereby two streams of culture, previously isolated, united with significant results for the hymnology of the future.

(See Illustrative Hymns, VI. Sancti venite Christi corpus sumite, “Draw nigh and take the body of the Lord.”)
IV. Summary

The account of the Christian hymns of necessity accompanies that of the Christian organization, moving from the shores of the Mediterranean and the Christian centers in Roman provincial areas into the “regions beyond” of missionary effort. Although congregational singing in the Ambrosian sense appears to have been submerged in this process, the traditional hymnody was preserved, new hymns added and the foundation laid for the ninth century revival.

Anonymity is the rule and known authorship the exception for the hymns produced in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth centuries. This continued to be the rule during the whole medieval period since the names of those who wrote the non-scriptural parts of religious rites were lost or unknown or perhaps of little importance in communal worship. The fact that the hymns which survive have been gathered from liturgical manuscripts and not from the work of individual authors except in rare cases, should make anonymity more intelligible.

Hymn sources are scanty and interconnections, dimly perceived, can rarely be established. Continuity of evolution is often broken or replaced by new poetical inspiration. However, the fourth century appeal to the objective, the direct, the simple, is seldom varied by the subjective theme. The biblical narratives and the symbolism connected with the various offices 16 and feasts add substance and character to the cycles and to the concept of the liturgical year.

In the heart of the Dark Ages, popularly considered, western European civilization was in confusion and its fate problematical. One could scarcely expect the fruits of peace and security to flourish. Yet in these very centuries there were created and circulated many of the best loved hymns of Christianity, a number of which have been in unbroken use to the present day. Among them are the illustrations inserted above and Lucis Creator optime, “O blest creator of the light;” the Advent hymns, Verbum supernum prodiens, “High Word of God who once didst come,” and Conditor alme siderum, “Creator of the stars of night;” the Easter hymn, Claro paschali gaudio, “That Easter day with joy was bright;” for the dedication of a church, Urbs beata Jerusalem, “Blessed city, heavenly Salem” with the more familiar second part, “Christ is made the sure foundation.” Two hymns honoring the Virgin date from this period: Ave maris stella, “Hail, Sea-Star we name Thee,” and Quem terra pontus aethera, “The God whom earth and sea and sky,” initiating the Marian hymnology of the Middle Ages.[19]

(See Illustrative Hymns, VII. Ave maris stella, “Hail, Sea-Star we name Thee.”)

Created and preserved in a clerical and for the most part a monastic environment these hymns express the Christian thought and faith of the era which was thus treasured up for wider circulation and influence in a later and more settled society. The words of the late Canon Douglas, a great American hymnologist, are memorable in this connection:

    “What does have a practical bearing on our subject is, that whatever may have been the older cycle, it was enriched to an extraordinary degree in the early medieval centuries. What began in Milan, and achieved its permanent recognition at Monte Cassino, was soon to bring about a Mozarabic Hymnal in Spain, a Gallican hymnal in northern Europe, an Anglo-Irish cycle in Britain: and from all these various increments not only enlarged the growing Hymnal but also richly diversified it.”

The End